Olympic Games: why are two bronze medals awarded in combat sports?

Published by Graziella de Sortiraparis · Photos by Cécile de Sortiraparis · Published on August 4, 2024 at 05:09 p.m.
During the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, you'll sometimes see two bronze medals around athletes' necks, but for what reason? In combat sports, four athletes are rewarded, instead of three... We tell you all about it!

The Olympic Games have their share of curiosities, such as the practice of awarding two bronze medals instead of one for certain sports. Five of these are combat sports: boxing, judo, taekwondo, wrestling and karate (the latter being absent this year). So why did two athletes end up on the podium?

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This astonishing rule has existed since the 1952 Games, the first sport to benefit from it being boxing. This is due to the principle of repechage, which allows the competition to have a parallel draw. Before the quarter-finals, all matches are knockout, but from this stage onwards, the winners of the bouts advance to the semi-finals, which are official and crown the two best.

But the losers still have a chance, thanks to another table that allows two matches for third place! In this way, the losers of the official semi-finals join those of the repechages, to face each other and define the two bronze medallists. In boxing, it's even simpler, as the two losing semi-finalists are automatically awarded bronze medals, thanks to the schedule of events!

All you have to do is watch this rule live to understand it better!

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